The Pleasant Valley War ...

Young, Arizona … USA

Every year on the third weekend in July, in Pleasant Valley, Arizona (renamed Young, in honor of Miss Ola Beth Young, the town’s first Postmaster of 50 years) celebrates “Pleasant Valley Days” with a parade and tours of the battle sites of the Pleasant Valley War. Graves of the men killed during the feud can be viewed in the local cemetery as an additional treat.

The belief that this particular chapter in American history was a sheep v. cattle range war developed because the first killing in the feud was the murder of a Mexican (some say he was Navajo) sheep herder who worked for the Daggs Brothers Sheep Ranch in northern Arizona.  Beginning in 1885, the Tewksbury brothers (recent cattle ranchers in the area themselves), elected to lease some sheep from the Daggs, they in turn sent the sheep to Pleasant Valley with the sheep herder who was murdered and robbed in route by Cooper Blevins who was working for the Graham faction which were cattle ranchers.

While it is true that the war was ultimately a battle between cattle and sheep ranchers, that’s not the only reason for the war … But it turned out to be as good as excuse / reason as any.  The feud would last for almost a full decade; it was deadliest between 1886 and 1887; historians say that as few as 20 and as many as 34 deaths resulted. The conflict between the two groups is said to have began over property lines, water, and grazing rights in 1885; it’s a historical fact though that initially, there had been a dispute in regard to stolen cattle or “cattle rustling” of which both parties were accused of by another local rancher as early as 1882. A few years later fuel was added to the fire by the long-standing cowboy contempt for sheep-herders, plus the fact that the Tewksburys were known to be half Indian. Even if legitimate conflicts had not existed (such as property lines & water rights), there would, probably, have been a personal dislike of the Tewksbury brothers on the part of the Grahams and other cattlemen in the area any way.   Regardless, this particular little war turned into one of the deadliest domestic wars of the American west.

Throughout America’s west and during the late 1880s especially, a number of range wars which were usually classified as informal or undeclared violent conflicts, erupted between “cattlemen” and “sheepmen” over water rights, grazing rights, or property disputes.   In this case, as I’ve already indicated, there had been quarrels between the work hands within both factions as far back as 1882. The early clashes stemmed from accusations of cattle and horse rustling leveled at both parties, by another local rancher named Jim Stinson.  As a result, players from both factions, the Tewksbury's and Grahams were arrested and charged with rustling.   Jim Stinson (he made the original rustling charge) later made a deal with the Grahams to pay them each 50 head of cattle and insure that they would never go to jail if they agreed to testify against the Tewksbury brothers. The Grahams jumped onto the deal with the expressed vow to drive the Tewksburys out of Pleasant Valley. At the end of the day, the case against the Tewksbury boys was dismissed from court due to a lack of evidence.

After that, all that was needed to “fuel the fire” was the choice by the Tewksbury brothers to decide to try their hand at sheep ranching in 1885. As I've said, the dirty little war itself lasted for almost a decade, with the last known killing occurring as late as 1892.  Of interesting note, an outsider and known assassin too many, Tom Horn (you may recall the movie with his name sake staring Steve McQueen) participated in the war as a killer for hire as well; but each side claimed the other side brought Horn on board, so it's  unknown  which side employed him.

Of all the domestic wars that have taken place throughout American’s western history, the Pleasant Valley War was the most costly, resulting in an almost total eradication of the two families (Grahams & Tewkesbury) that were involved. 

In 1892, Tom Graham, who was the last of the Graham faction involved in the feud, was murdered in Tempe, Arizona; before he died he accused Edwin (Ed) Tewksbury, the last of that faction involved in the feud, of the murder. However he was defended by the well-known Arizona attorney Thomas Fitch. The first trial ended in a mistrial, due to a legal technicality, a second jury trial dead-locked seven to five for acquittal.  By the time of Ed's release, none of the Grahams were alive to retaliate against him, nor was there anyone on the Tewksbury side to have avenged his death had anyone killed him.  Edwin  Tewksbury died 12 years later in Globe, Arizona in April of 1904, apparently of natural causes.

Sources …                                                                        http://feraljundi.com/history/history-the-range-wars-of-the-old-american-west/  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Valley_War                                  http://www.legendsofamerica.com/az-pleasantvalleywar.html                              http://youngazrealestate.com/